Saved
by MsJillyJelly
Summary: A mysterious faction is following Nicole and her companion throughout their journey in the Wasteland. Can they find out who they are and what they want before it's too late?  F!Courier/Boone
1. Liberated

A/N: This is going to be a series of one shots. I've never written a one shot before so I hope it's not terrible. This story is still a work in progress, but it will be done soon. I'll probably post a chapter every week, depending on how confident I feel about it. Also, I took some of the dialouge straight from the game (and tweaked some of it slightly) so that's why it might sound a little familiar. Well anyway, enjoy my story!

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><p>It had only been a month and a half since Nicole had gotten her Pipboy, and she still wasn't sure how the thing worked. Doc Mitchell had given it to her after she had recovered from her head wound but didn't leave much instruction on how to use it. Unconsciously, she brushed her fingertips over the scar on her temple and slid the device around on her wrist, letting the cool metal rub against her skin. It was one of her newest nervous habits.<p>

She looked at the small glowing screen and sighed in exasperation, leaning her head against the rotting wood of the old shack they had stopped to rest at. Bringing her gaze forward, she noticed Boone was glaring at her. She was still getting used to the fact that her companion seemed to only have one expression.

"We should get going," he said flatly. Even through his dark sunglasses she could see he was irritated with her hesitance to leave.

Nicole sighed and looked down at her worn boots. She knew he was right. If they were ever going to get Cable Springs to rescue the hostages, they needed to start walking now. Without another word, Nicole stood and walked out of the protection of the shack into the harsh Mojave sun. Out of habit, she checked the map on her Pipboy to make sure they were going in the right direction.

Her feet carried her north, the direction her device told her Cable Springs was. Boone followed a few paces behind, hunting rifle on his back, ready to pull it out if needed.

A huge lump formed itself in the pit of her stomach. Nicole had never been on a rescue mission before; let alone _lead_ one. She figured she only had one shot at it, because if she screwed up – or didn't _show_ up – the hostages would surely be done for.

Weakness was not a trait Nicole liked to display, so she tried her best to hold her composure around her companion who was normally very good at not showing fear – or any emotion at all, for that matter. She looked back at him, thinking she was making eye contact – she could never tell, his dark glasses were always shrouding his eyes.

She slowed her pace until Boone was walking at her side. He eyed her suspiciously, but didn't say anything until she did.

"So…" she painfully dragged out the word. "Tell me about yourself," she said awkwardly, trying to ease the tension. Although Nicole had been traveling with Boone for at least a month now, she still didn't know him as well as she'd hoped. She was aware that his wife was dead, but any other information he kept disclosed from her.

Boone glared at her through his glasses, not sure why she would ask such a thing from him. He wasn't even sure why she would care. "If you want. It's not really my thing," he paused and softened his scowl slightly, "What did you want to know?"

"Tell me about your wife." The request was one that Nicole was aware would most likely get shot down. She knew that Boone liked to keep to himself – especially about his wife – but she was curious about the subject.

He snapped at her, suddenly angry she would bring it up. "I don't see what this helps. She's dead." He practically spit venom when he said so.

"The more we know about each other the more efficient we'll be," she tried to reason.

"Look, we've done some traveling together but we're not exactly '_brothers-in-arms_.' I'm not ready to start swapping personal stories. Carla is dead and that's all you need to know." he said bitterly.

Nicole took that as an invitation to shut her mouth. Feeling awkward, she didn't say anything else until they got to Cable Springs.

As they approached, however, she looked at him, almost as if for guidance. She wasn't sure how they were going to rescue the hostages. She didn't have to say anything for Boone to know she was clueless. He could tell by the look on her face she had no idea what the hell she was doing.

Frustrated, he sighed and motioned for her to get low. They crouched behind an old building and he relayed the plan.

He kept his voice low and whispered, "If the Legion did this, then the hostages are going to be in plain sight. Usually when NCR soldiers are being held as hostages, their captors like to torture them in the open. And they do it close to NCR territory so we're forced to watch. I've had to Mercy Kill a few prisoners myself when I was on duty but we're not doing that today."

"So what's the plan then?"

"We're going to be strategic and efficient about this. We're not going to run in, guns blazing like maniacs."

As he further discussed the plan, Nicole curiously poked her head around the corner to view the rest of the abandoned town. She could see the hostages in the center of the town on some sort of platform, bags over their heads and their hands and feet bound together.

A few men were walking around with their guns in hand, patrolling the borders of the town. One of them happened to have swiveled his head in their direction just as Nicole poked her head out. He spotted her and shouted to the others and they started firing furiously at them.

Boone grabbed Nicole by her collar and pulled her back behind the building again. "What happened to being strategic and efficient about this?" he snarled.

"At least we don't have to go looking for them now," she said trying to make light of the situation as he pulled his gun out and started backtracking away from the building, an angry scowl on his face.

Nicole's hand flew to her holster and pulled out her pistol, her heartbeat gaining speed. This was really happening. She was really on a rescue mission, and it just got ten times more dangerous.

The gun shots in their direction continued and she whirled around to see where Boone had gone, but he had disappeared. _The bastard…_

She heard bullets whiz by her head and spun around, her gun already firing at the bandits. She ran around the back corner of the house as they chased after her in hot pursuit.

"Shit, shit, shit," she wheezed as she ran, turning around every now and then to fire a bullet or two back at the thugs. Her heart leaped partly in excitement and partly in terror as one of her bullets hit one of the men in his leg, crippling him. He screamed in agony and crumpled to the ground, cradling his thigh to his chest. The other two men continued firing and left their comrade to fend for himself.

Nicole dove behind a boulder as her pursuers took cover behind an old, broken down car. She reloaded her gun and held it close to her chest as she checked her surroundings. She looked for the thug whom she had shot and was shocked to find that his head had been blown off.

Her eyes darted back the gangsters' cover and cocked her gun. She could _just _see the shoulder of one of the criminals through a broken window in the car. Gulping, she steadied herself and took the shot.

The bullet just barely grazed the man's vest and he quickly ducked behind cover.

"Damn!" she hissed to herself, angry that she was such a terrible shot.

The bandits were tired of playing cat and mouse though, and they ran out from behind the car and charged Nicole. She panicked and backed up as quickly as she could, holding her pistol out and fired it blindly. She tripped over a rock and the gun flew out of her hands. A sharp gasp sucked itself into her lungs and she couldn't hear anything over the roaring heartbeat in her ears.

The criminals smiled twistedly and watched as she helplessly scrambled over the rocks. In the instant they aimed their guns at her head, and just as she was about to fight for her life, one of the bandit's heads simply popped, putting a thin coating of blood on Nicole and the other bandit. The other bandit was in about as much shock and confusion as Nicole was as the other's lifeless – and now headless – body fell to the ground in a heap. It wasn't long before the one left standing in front of Nicole lost his head as well.

Nicole stared in shock and wiped the blood off her face. Crouching low to the ground, she quickly retrieved her pistol and swung it in every direction, making sure all the bandits were gone.

Boone came walking down from one of the ridges located near the house he had fled from. Nicole stood and glared at him furiously.

"Do you mind telling me what the _hell_ you were doing?" she spat.

"I was _saving_ your _life_." Nicole thought she saw his lips twitch into a small irked smile, but it disappeared too quickly for her to be sure.

Pinching the bridge of her nose, she sighed in frustration, "I thought you had left me. Don't disappear on me like that again, please."

They both knew he wouldn't _really_ leave; he cared about seeing to it that the hostages were free more than anything else. Nicole wasn't really angry with him – he had saved her life after all – but she was just shaken up about the whole thing. Boone just worked better when he was farther away from his target.

"Look, we're wasting time. We need to go untie the hostages." Boone nodded his head and they ran towards the center of Cable Springs, their guards higher than ever.

Boone watched Nicole's back as she hastily untied the prisoners' bonds. Once they had all been set free and the town clear of danger – thanks to Boone who had killed a few more bandits who wandered out of some of the houses – Nicole started questioning the hostages, who turned out to not even be NCR soldiers.

"Each of us has a relative in the NCR," an older woman explained shakily, rubbing the rope burns on her wrists. "We weren't sure why we would be the target for kidnappings from some random group of thugs, other than ransom of course."

"Wait, it was just a group of some random bandits? Your captors weren't with the Legion?" Nicole was puzzled.

"No, at least, they didn't say they were." She continued, "When they were talking to one another, one of them mentioned a rescue party coming for us, but they didn't sound worried. It was like it was part of a plan or something. Another asked about a payment they would be receiving… but it wasn't a ransom for us. It sounded more like a deal was made for something else."

Nicole pressed for more information, but that was all the woman could remember. The little information she had received troubled Nicole as they walked the hostages back to Camp McCarran. Once they got there, the individuals were reunited with their families and one of the lieutenants gave Nicole all the money he could give. She refused politely – the NCR's money not really being of value to her anyway – but he insisted that she take it. He generously offered for them to stay the night as well and she humbly accepted, knowing that they had showers available. She desperately needed and craved one.

After being escorted to a small cabin with a few bunk beds in it, Nicole took advantage of the camp's facilities and showered for the first time in a long time.

It felt good to have hot water run down her neck and through her hair, and she breathed the warm steam into her dust-filled lungs. She stayed in the shower for a while, thinking about what had happened that day. Her mind was troubled about the bandits and what their reason would be to capture the hostages in the first place. Who did they work for? Was it a set-up? Nicole didn't know, and that frustrated her.

Her mind wandered to the incident with Boone. She thought about what he did, and how ungrateful she sounded. He saved her life and she didn't even thank him.

She slipped out of the shower and dressed herself, combing her hair back into her usual bun. She walked into the main room of the cabin, looking for Boone so she could properly thank him for saving her earlier that day. She found him lying on a bunk and was already fast asleep, his normal scowl still on his face. He was even angry when he slept. Nicole sighed in defeat and called it a night.


	2. Second Thoughts

A/N: So here's the second chapter. I decided to release the second chapter a little early because I had it done and felt pretty confident about this one. (To be honest, this chapter might be my favorite.) I know that the anti venom part isn't exactly accurate, but it made for a good scene. So enjoy it anyway, and thanks for the reads and reviews!

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><p>"Look, I know what I'm doing." At least, that's what Nicole thought.<p>

Her companion stared at her for a moment through his sunglasses, a harsh look of disapproval in his veiled eyes. "This isn't going to end well," Boone said flatly, not usually one to give his two cents in her decision making.

The fact that he would give his opinion worried Nicole a little. Usually when Nicole leaped head first into battle, he wasn't one to argue. She shook off the feeling of uneasiness. What she was doing seemed right to her. Besides, what was the harm in going on a little adventure?

"What has your panties in a bunch?" she retorted half joking, half serious.

His glare intensified and she shrunk away slightly, thinking his condemning eyes would never remove themselves from her. His brow furrowed slightly and he sighed, closing his eyes. "I don't have a good feeling about this. Those people didn't seem… right. Like they were hiding something."

"I'm sure it's fine. They were just friendly strangers pointing us in the direction of a stash of supplies and weapons. I don't see the harm in that."

He stared at her as if she were stupid. Which, at this point he considered she was. How could she not see these people were obviously setting up an ambush? What was worse was that she was blindly walking right into it!

He squinted at her. "Fine. But don't make me say 'I told you so,'" he said scornfully.

Nicole ignored the comment and continued walking through the Mojave, her usual banter filling Boone's ears once again. He didn't do much talking himself though. It suited him fine. He never knew what to say.

It was only when Nicole checked the map marker on her Pipboy that she started to get nervous. They were getting close to their destination and something felt… off. Maybe Boone was right… No. She wasn't going to _let_ him be right. Just as she had told herself before: there was nothing wrong with a few strangers helping out some hungry and ammo-less wanderers – even if the strangers _did_ act a little weird.

As the duo approached the location, it turned out to be an abandoned building – most likely an old convenient store of some sort. Boone swung his rifle around from his back so he could easily access it in case there was any danger. Nicole, although her stomach twisted in anxiety, looked back at him and raised an eyebrow mordantly. He disregarded her immaturity, but kept a close and ready hand to his weapon.

Almost tauntingly, Boone motioned for Nicole to go to the door first. She looked daggers at him, but could feel her stomach twisting into knots. Walking up to the door, her hand trembled slightly and her throat became as dry as the sand at her feet. Without another word she slowly began to turn the rusty handle and the old door slowly creaked open. The room inside was pitch black and only a sliver of light from the quickly setting Mojave sun crept its way into the room. She heard the scuttle of Boone's feet near her. Wait… scuttle? No. It couldn't be… She knew it was too good to be true. Boone was right after all. They had been set up.

Her heart sank as she fumbled for the light on her Pipboy. The light flicked on and before her were the glowing eyes of a Giant Radscorpion. It hissed at her and lurched forward, its stinger posed in the air and ready to sting.

"Son of a bitch!" she yelled, falling backwards into the sand. She scrambled to get back on her feet, her quivering fingers not able to firmly grasp the handle of her pistol.

As the Giant Radscorpion crawled out of its nest, others in the colony followed suit. They varied in size, but their poison was all the same. One of the younger ones charged Nicole, its claws snapping at her heels. She ran backwards, firing a spray of bullets at its head. She missed, but the bullets hit its back, a spray of blood and guts squirting out from the fresh wounds.

Boone brought his rifle to his face and aimed down the sights at one of the mutated insects. They were tough, but he only needed a few bullets to kill the damned things. He shot at its tail with deadly accuracy and it flew off as the Radscorpion took its last steps.

The ex-sniper's rifle swung from Radscorpion to Radscorpion without missing a single shot. He reached into his pocket to grab more ammo but could feel that he was running low. Soon he was down to his last bullet and had to pull out his machete. The blade was slightly dull, but any better options weren't available at the moment.

Nicole, who had just finished killing one of the larger bugs, looked over to her companion who was now forced to fight with a melee weapon. She tried to watch his back, but wasn't able to keep her gun pointed towards his direction for more than a few seconds before one of the bigger Radscorpions came scuttling towards her furiously. Its huge claws lunged for her arms but she ducked and curled to the side, firing her weapon mercilessly at its stinger. Few bullets hit the target, but the flesh weakened as each one hit. Eventually the bullets got through the hard exoskeleton and the tail flew off. The Radscorpion, writhing and hissing in pain, collapsed to the ground.

Nicole heard Boone grunt in frustration and her head snapped in his direction. He was struggling with one of the biggest Radscorpions she had seen yet. It nimbly jabbed its stinger towards her companion, but he matched its agility and ducked out of the way each time. He waited until the Radscorpion was retracting its stinger when he stabbed it with his machete. Screaming in agony, it staggered slightly, but that only made it angrier. It swung at Boone with claws wide open, trying to grab its prey. He dodged it a few times, but as he backed away from the mutant, he found that it had trapped him into a corner.

Boone tried to climb the wall of rocks behind him in order to escape, but the Radscorpion grabbed hold of his leg and yanked his body towards its stinger. Boone rolled his body around and started kicking its claw with his free boot but it was no use. The insect dug its stinger into his side and he let out an agonized scream.

The sound of his cry made Nicole feel nauseous. She watched helplessly as his lifeless body was released from the Radscorpion's claws and carelessly dropped to the hard, desert ground. Adrenaline coursed through her veins and she pulled out her laser pistol, not hesitating to fire all her ammo. The red beams hit everywhere on the Radscorpion _except_ the tail, making her grunt in impatience. As soon as she heard the click of the empty gun, she tossed it aside and retrieved her other pistol.

Nicole squatted down and steadied herself. The Radscorpion was getting closer and she was running out of time. She found the tail in her sights and closed her eyes, drops of sweat rolling down the side of her face. Swallowing the dry lump in her throat, she slowly pulled the trigger. The scuttling stopped and there lay the body of the dead insect on the ground.

Forgetting about everything else, the courier dropped her weapon and ran to Boone, who was lying in the sand on his side. She knelt next to him and rolled him over. Hot, sticky blood was oozing from his wounds and beads of cold sweat trickled down his arms and forehead.

"Boone?" her voice was shaky and she wanted to cry. "Boone, please wake up… Don't-" she choked on her own words. "Don't die," she pleaded, grabbing his pale face in her trembling hands. She knew that the poison was already spreading like a wild fire throughout his body. Remembering she had a bottle of anti venom in her bag, she quickly retrieved it and brought it over to him. She struggled to open the bottle of the life-saving liquid as her hands continued to shake violently.

She finally popped the cork and propped his head up on her lap. She parted his mouth and fed the liquid into his unmoving lips. "Please, drink it, _please_…" she begged him hoarsely as she helped the liquid go down his throat.

The minutes she waited as the drink worked its magic seemed like an eternity. Finally, a few moments after the drink had gone down his throat, Boone began to come to. His eyes slowly fluttered open and his famous scowl reappeared on his face. Nicole cried out in rejoice, and wiped the sweat off her forehead with a shaky hand.

"Oh, thank God, you're alive," she sighed with relief. And she was right. He was alive. But the potion didn't cure his poisoning. It only temporarily relieved it. She needed to get him to some shelter or else he would surely die soon.

He looked at her and began to speak but she shushed him and told him he needed to save his energy.

Nicole gathered the items that she had dropped and helped Boone to his feet. He was leaning most of his weight onto her and he was heavy, but she managed to carry the extra weight as they searched for a place to rest for the night. Eventually, they found an abandoned tent that was most likely used for NCR troopers on the move who just happened to leave their temporary quarters behind.

She helped Boone onto one of the bedrolls and wordlessly began to clean and dress his wounds. First she took off his NCR beret and sunglasses that seemed to never come off on their own. He looked like such a different person without them on; a less intimidating person.

Having removed his hat and glasses, she pulled up his shirt to reveal hard abs. She gently began cleaning his wounds. He cringed every once in a while as she applied a cleansing alcohol, but he didn't complain out loud.

After Nicole had cleaned the wounds and began to bandage them, she gave him a stimpak to help ease the pain. She looked at her wounded companion and winced. She knew she had to say something so she said what was on both of their minds.

"There's really no way I can make up for my mistakes. I should've listened to you but I didn't because I was stubborn. It was _my _mistake, but you were the one who suffered the consequences of my actions. _I_ should be the one injured, not you." She got quiet, "If only I had just covered your back-" Her voice quavered and she took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. "I… I just want to tell you that I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I ever dragged you into any of this." She looked down at the medical supplies in front of her because she was too ashamed to meet his eyes. She didn't expect him to forgive her, so she readied herself for his scolding.

Boone kept silent though. Although silence was a normal thing for him, it was agonizing for Nicole. She desperately wanted him to say something to her. One word would've been okay. She was making it worse for herself by staring at his wounds, large blossoms of crimson now appearing on the fresh bandages.

He lay there, staring at the roof of the tent and the lantern that hung from the middle, its flame still licking furiously at the air. He wanted to be mad at her that she had made such a stupid mistake; he wanted to be angry that she wouldn't listen to common sense. But he wasn't, and that made him angry at himself. He realized she was staring at him, but he didn't want to acknowledge her. Not right now.

Nicole, feeling slightly more uncomfortable than before, finally broke the silence. "You should probably drink some more anti venom now… You're due for another dose," she said quietly, her words laced with regret and self-loathing. She reached for the round bottle of liquid near his side.

"I can get it." Boone said coldly, stretching his hand out to retrieve the medicine.

But she was too close to grabbing the object for her to pull away, so their hands found the bottle together and stayed there, one atop the other. Their hands didn't move for what seemed like forever to Nicole.

She stared at his fingers, which were so close to lacing into hers. Her heart beat thumped in her ears and color rushed to her cheeks. An overwhelming desire to be closer to him suddenly came over her. She wanted to grab his hand and never let go; she wanted to be held in his arms and told that everything would be okay. But as quickly as the feeling had come to her, it had gone. The blush faded from her cheeks and she pulled her hand away sharply, realizing how stupid her thoughts were. They could never be together. _It would never work out,_ she thought to herself bitterly.

Nicole saw to it that he drank the anti venom, but after she was satisfied that he had drunken enough, she stood, dimmed the lantern, and went to her own bedroll in the other side of the tent. She crawled inside the worn fabric, cradled her legs to her chest, and silently cried herself to sleep.


	3. Redeemed

A/N: Sorry for the wait on this one guys... I had to do some last minute touch-ups on it. The dialouge is mostly from the game - as much as I hate to admit it. I know I should probably be more original but I decided to write about the quest "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" so that's where everything came from. I hope the story is still good though. Thanks for the reviews and the reads! Enjoy!

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><p>The campfire crackled and glowed softly, illuminating Nicole and Boone, who were sitting across from each other. Both were staring into the flames, deep in thought.<p>

The day hadn't been that productive and they hadn't spoken much since that morning when Nicole failed at another attempt to get Boone to talk about his past, this time about Bitter Springs, a disaster that happened a long time ago that Boone tried his best to forget. Nicole had heard Manny Vargas – Boone's ex-best friend and fellow sniper – mention something about it and was curious if he would ever go back. "It's a memory I don't want refreshed," he had said when she mentioned it.

Every time he thought about Bitter Springs – which was more often than not – his hatred for himself grew. He was a murderer, and going back to Bitter Springs wouldn't change that.

"It's okay to make mistakes; life doesn't come with a handbook," Nicole had said to him after he argued about the things he had done – which he limited her knowing of. All she was aware of was that something bad had happened at Bitter Springs, nothing more. "I know you have regrets about whatever happened there, but you can't hold onto them forever. Take your past mistakes and learn from them."

He had kept silent and stared at a nearby boulder.

She could see he wasn't going to budge. "Maybe if you go back things will seem clearer," she had said softly, lightly touching his arm.

He had shaken it off and had snapped at her, "I don't see how it would help. What's done is done." But maybe it would.

Boone thought about that morning and how Nicole was so open to listening to him; how she wanted to help him so badly and make him feel better. He yelled at her for trying to be helpful, and she hadn't said anything since. He brought his gaze up and stared at her across the campfire. The way she looked right then, so sad and tired but a fake happiness plastered over her other feelings, reminded him of his wife, Carla.

Nicole looked up from the flames; her eyes tinted with sadness and regret, and noticed Boone staring at her with a pained expression. "Boone?" she asked softly.

He snapped out the flashback of his wife and realized he was still staring uncomfortably at Nicole. He looked away and furrowed his eyebrows. "I thought some more about what you said… I think maybe you're right. Maybe I should go back to Bitter Springs. I don't know what I'm hoping to find there though."

A small smile appeared on Nicole's face, "What changed your mind?"

"Nothing," he said abruptly. He paused, closing his eyes briefly, and re-answered, "Just tired of thinking about it."

"We'll go there first thing in the morning," she smiled; glad he was complying with her idea.

The morning came faster than Boone had expected and before he knew it, there they were, standing in Bitter Springs. The flow of old memories and feelings hit Boone like a tidal wave. He had to start somewhere though if he was ever going to rid himself of his demons, so he explained to Nicole what had happened – that there was a miscommunication.

"We had been sent from Camp Golf, looking for some Khans that been making trouble with one of the NCR's settlements. We thought that Bitter Springs was the Khans' hide out but it turned out to be their home." He looked around the camp, wincing at the sight of the settlers. Swallowing, he continued, "We were sent to Coyote Ridge to guard Canyon 37 from any Khans that tried to escape while the main force attacked from the front. The main force got spotted too soon though and we heard shooting. Khans started to come through the canyon in bunches. But it didn't seem right. Something was wrong.

Women and children began coming towards us. Even the elderly and the wounded started coming through. We radioed command to confirm out orders but they didn't get what we were seeing. They said to fire until we were out of bullets, so that's what we did." His eyebrows creased in anger at his own words. He still couldn't believe what he had done.

Nicole stared for a long time, digesting what he had just told her. "How could you kill innocent people like that?" she whispered, sickened by the thought of what he had described.

"With the Khans, any of them can be dangerous. There's a lot you can't see through a scope. Still… I often wonder the same thing." He looked away into the Canyon and creased his eyebrows. After a moment of silence, he exhaled spoke again. "Anyway… I don't see why we're here. Thought maybe it'd help me see things better."

Nicole couldn't help but feel dejected. She thought she was helping him.

"I'd like to stay here for the night, think some things over." He continued, and her spirits were raised again.

"We can do that," Nicole said, trying to hide her smile.

Nicole spent the rest of the day conversing with the Bitter Springs settlers – most of which were refugees who were either sick or injured excluding the few NCR rangers that were scattered about the camp – and did some busy work around the settlement. Later in the evening she took a break and sat down at a vacant campfire. A light breeze brushed itself against Nicole's exposed skin and she shivered slightly, watching the Goosebumps appear. The desert's heat in the daytime was matched by the nighttime's chilling air.

She looked around the camp absentmindedly, but knew in the back of her mind she was looking for something specific. She was looking for Boone.

Her companion had started to grow on her the past couple of weeks, and she realized she truly did care for him. She almost could say she loved him. _No,_ she scolded herself, closing her eyes in dejection. Though denying the fact that she really did have strong feelings for him was contradicting to herself. It was a slow ascent, but her feelings started growing more and more passionate each day that she spent with him. And she hated herself for it.

She hated herself for loving a man whose heart belonged to another woman. Deep down she knew nothing good would ever come out of it – Boone could never love her back – yet she couldn't stop the butterflies from swarming into her stomach or her heart leaping in joy every time they even spoke to each other. But why? She knew that he could never bring himself to let go of Carla. Asking him to do so would be like asking him to saw his limbs off with a piece of cloth. It couldn't happen. It was impossible.

Nicole looked at her hands, which she folded and were now trembling in the low light of the fire. She brought a hand up to her face to wipe the tears that pooled in her eyelids. She wasn't about to cry over this. Nicole knew she needed to get over it. Period.

As the sun finally drowned in the horizon and disappeared, Boone came to her, a look of uneasiness on his face. She didn't get a chance to ask what was wrong before he spoke.

"Something's not right. Got a group coming our way. Looks like a Legion raiding party. It's big. Might be too big – even for us. If you want out, I won't blame you, but I'm gonna stay, see if I can hold them off."

Nicole felt her stomach leap in anxiety. "Why would they come to Bitter Springs?"

"Easy target for grabbing slaves. Bunch of refugees, a few soldiers defending it. I don't think they're here for us though. Too bad. Would've made me feel good about myself.

Nicole knew that they had caused some trouble with the Legion in their previous 'adventures.' They both knew the Legion hated them, and the feeling was mutual. So she could understand why he was so disappointed that they hadn't come for them, but for slave-grabbing instead. "You don't sound surprised that they're here," Nicole observed.

"I'm not," he grimaced, "I always knew I had a lot of bad things coming to me and I always figured this was how it was gonna end for me. Just didn't know when." He looked her in the eyes and she shied away, suddenly intimidated by his gaze. "That day you showed up in Novac… I had a feeling I was supposed to go with you. That is was time to end all this. And now I know."

Nicole couldn't help but feel concerned that he had such a big death wish for himself. She wasn't going to let him fight the Legion alone and die though. She had his back, no matter how slim their chances were. "Well then, what are we waiting for?" She hoped he couldn't hear her voice shaking.

This was Boone's chance to redeem himself for what he had done; his chance to make things right. His mouth almost curved up in a smile, but he stopped himself and pulled out his rifle. "Tell the truth? I think this is exactly what I've been waiting for."


	4. Followed

A/N: Ahh! Sorry for the long wait on this one guys. I had written a chapter that I was going to post way earlier this week but decided to make it chapter 5 so then I had to write this one and it was all just a huge mess. But I got it done in the short amount of time I had and am pretty proud of the results. :) It's a little choppy in some parts, I think, but eh, what can one do? I hope you guys like it! And again, thanks for the reads and reviews! They're all appreciated!

EDIT: I've added a few things here and there... I didn't exactly get a chance to edit this very much so now that's it's up I keep thinking of better things to write/add. I literally published this the moment after I finished it so that's why this is happening. I'll have the next chapter better prepared I promise!

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><p>It was a couple weeks after the incident in Bitter Springs when Nicole and Boone found themselves in a smaller, quieter town about an hour away from New Vegas. The town itself had few residents, but the people who resided there did a nice job of keeping it in order.<p>

In a way, it reminded Nicole of Novac; there was a motel, a small trading outpost, and had what was left of a few houses that were worn down to the insulation with use. It even had a small saloon, which Novac didn't have the luxury of owning. The residents seemed friendly enough to Nicole. She couldn't say for sure; she had only exchanged a word or two with a few of them since their arrival the day before.

Taking a deep breath of the warm dust filled air around her, Nicole exhaled slowly and looked up. Orange sherbet clouds were painted across the sky as the Mojave sun bid farewell to the desert and its inhabitants.

Hopefully, she looked around her for any sign that her companion had taken her up on her offer and decided to join her outside, but she pouted in defeat as her eyes gave up looking for him. She had decided to sit outside for a bit to enjoy the last glimpses of the sun while sipping on a Nuka Cola and hoped that Boone would like to have joined her, but she knew she was setting herself up for disappointment by expecting him to oblige. She scorned herself for not knowing better by now that he was more of a lone wolf than a social butterfly.

Nicole was a little more disappointed than she would have liked to admit. She was still struggling with herself over her feelings for him. She kept telling herself that it wouldn't work out, but her heart ignored her head's wishes to forget about her feelings and they stayed. It was almost as if the more she pushed them away the stronger they came back.

At night her mind would often wander to thoughts of him. She couldn't stop her eyes from creeping around the space near her and planting themselves on Boone. He never looked happy when he slept and she wanted to know why. She wanted to crawl over next to him and curl herself into his arms. She wanted to be loved back.

Nicole sighed, staring at the speckles of stars that were beginning to emerge. The small motel's neon sign that Boone and Nicole had rented a room at started to flicker on, its bright colors illuminating the space around it. Her eyes traveled to the door of their room where she knew he was inside. Having a better idea of who Boone was now that she had traveled with him for quite some time, she knew she shouldn't have been as disappointed as she had let herself be. It was nothing against her – not that she knew of at least – so she couldn't understand why it hurt so much.

Suddenly she felt horribly alone even though people were milling about all around her. An overwhelming feeling of sadness and heartache washed over her. She needed a drink, and Nuka Cola wasn't the kind she was thinking of.

Standing, she dusted herself of and headed in the direction of the saloon which was on the other side of town. "Dynamite Dave's" was what the neon sign read out front as she pushed open the door and let herself in. As casually as she could manage, she strolled up to the bar in the back of the building. A man in a simple wanderer's outfit stood behind the counter cleaning a glass with an old dirty rag. Nicole slid onto a seat and looked at the man expectantly.

"What can I get you, stranger?" the man said, setting down his glass.

"Something strong," she said, leaning an elbow against the counter. The bartender looked at her incredulously, thinking she didn't look the type to handle 'something strong'. She raised her eyebrows at him and raising his hands he frowned and began to poor different liquids into an opaque glass.

She watched as the liquids swirled into each other and intertwined, becoming one. The bartender slid the drink in front of her and without hesitation she began to chug it down.

"Ten caps," said the man, leaning an arm against the counter. A little pricey, but worth it to Nicole.

Her hand stuffed itself into her handbag and slapped a pile of caps onto the counter. The man counted the caps out of habit and put them into the register, only to return back to cleaning his glass.

Running away from her problems by means of heavy drinking wasn't something Nicole normally did. But under the circumstances, she thought she'd make an exception.

Swiveling her stool around, she noticed a group of men who had gathered at the door. They didn't look like the townsfolk she had seen wandering about. They were clad in dark clothing and bad vibes was all Nicole got from them, not including their foreboding stares.

She tried to ignore it at first, but was unsuccessful in the attempt. Innocently, she looked around the saloon, but her eyes couldn't help but wander towards the group of men again. Their eyes were still pinned on her and she began to feel uneasy. Her hand unconsciously began twisting the Pipboy around on her wrist.

Inconspicuously, she began to watch them back. They migrated to a small table and slowly sat down, but their eyes never strayed from her. One of the men leaned over to another and whispered something in his ear. The other nodded.

It was at that point that Nicole felt a little too uncomfortable for her liking. Slowly she stood and began to make her way towards the door. Eyes burned into her as she pulled the door open and walked out. The sound of chairs being scooted across the wooden floor made her heart leap into her throat.

Her pace quickened and she cursed the motel for being so far away from the saloon. Turning her head back, she could feel her stomach doing backflips inside of her. The men in the saloon had followed her out and were now pulling out something from their coats.

Nicole had no doubt they were after her and began to sprint towards the motel. Cold air seeped through the gaps in Nicole's armor and her feet faltered slightly. Regaining her balance she took out her pistol and held it close to her chest. In the heat of the moment, she ran behind and old house and stood there with her hands on her knees panting.

Fuzziness was all she could see at the moment and she wanted to sink into the ground and disappear. She knew the men in the bar were after her. For what reason she was still unsure, but she was almost certain they had a reason to kill her. _Must be a good one._

She didn't have that much time to recuperate before she felt large hands grab her by her collar and shove her against a wall. Her eyes shut for a minute, and when she opened them again all she could see in front of her was a black blob. The blurriness subsided soon enough and the blob came into focus. It was one of the men that were chasing her.

A scream built itself up in her throat and was ready to tear out but a hand was slapped over her mouth and it came out muffled. She kicked her legs and thrashed her body but another hand clenched itself around her throat.

"Nicole Clarke?" the man snarled viciously, growing impatient with the young woman.

_How does this guy know my name? _she thought.

Too scared to move, she held still until he shook her and she nodded quickly. Loosening his grip he brought his face closer to hers. He towered over her, and she noticed he had a scar running down the left side of his forehead to his left cheek. Trace amounts of wrinkles covered his face and he looked like a man who had been through and seen a lot – although that came with living in a post-apocalyptic world. Silver streaks lined his slicked back black hair and he looked a little over forty years old.

"Now you listen to me, _Miss Clarke,_" he practically spat her name, "you're done with what you're doing out here. Got it?"

He uncovered her mouth and she gasped for air. "I don't know what you mean," she coughed. The hand that was still on her throat had loosened its grip slightly, but she still gagged and tried to suck in as much oxygen as possible.

A throaty chuckle erupted from his throat before he became frighteningly serious again and slammed her harder back against the wall. "You're messing with the wrong people out here. If you know what's best for you, then you'd stop what you're doing."

Confusion rattled Nicole's brain. What had she done that made this man and his posse so angry?

He could see he still wasn't getting through to her, so he continued, "You're stirring up trouble in the wrong factions, kid. Just remember; we know what you've done and if you keep doing it, you're dead. We _will_ be watching you," he hissed. "You've been warned." He released his grip as he threw her to the ground. "One more thing," he added, "if you tell your little sniper friend of what happened here, you won't want to know what will happen."

Nicole gasped for breath and her hands flew to her throat. She scrambled to grab her pistol and turn around, but her attackers had gone.

_You're stirring up trouble in the wrong factions, kid. _What could that mean? The only factions she had really shown her dislike for were the Legion and Great Khans. It couldn't have been the Legion though. They had the wrong outfits for one, but also, she had never seen the Legion act like that before. These men… they were much more vicious and straightforward.

It was plausible that it was the Great Khans' work. At this point it was the only other reasonable answer. Nicole knew she had definitely let her dislike for the Great Khans known. She and Boone had ambushed a good number of their camps in the past. But she knew that they didn't like her back and probably wanted her dead. She would be surprised if they didn't have some sort of resentment towards her. Nicole was fully aware of the consequences for meddling with a group like that, but to her it was worth it. She disagreed with almost everything the Great Khans stood for. But why wait now to give a warning?

If that man was really working for the Great Khans, then why didn't he just kill her then? Maybe he was waiting for another opportunity under more violent circumstances? And how did he know she had a companion? Was someone already watching their every move?

With all the weird things happening to her and her companion, she began to wonder if they were all tied together. The 'random' group of thugs holding the NCR families hostage, the suspicious wanderers giving them false information about a supply stash that lead to an almost fatal attack, and now this incident with the man in black and his gang. Where the previous events all failed attempts to kill her and Boone?

The information terrified her. She didn't want to believe that any of it was true. Maybe it was all just a dream, she thought, but her throbbing head and neck brought her back to reality.

She stumbled to her feet and feebly walked back to the motel. To her surprise, as she was just a few yards away from the stairs up to her room, she saw Boone walking towards her.

She was scared to let him know what had just happened, so she tried to keep her cool but as he began to talk she started to lose it.

"I didn't know it took a couple hours to drink a soda," he said as a joke, although it came out rather flatly – as all his words usually did. But he wasn't trying to be mean about it. He was honestly beginning to become a little concerned that it was taking her so long to get back to the room. It just so happened that as he went out to look for her, she had come stumbling back. It was dark now though, and loose strands of hair from Nicole's bun covered her neck, so he couldn't see the bruises that formed in the shape of fingers around her throat.

Nicole began to stutter looking for a response, but the words wouldn't form properly in her mouth and tripped over her tongue so she kept quiet. The light from the neon sign out front lit the small courtyard that they were standing in. Hysteria was reflected in her eyes along with the bright lights, but she hid them from him.

Boone's brow furrowed and stared at her. It wasn't normal for Nicole to behave like this. Something must've happened. "Are you okay?"

Without warning, Nicole began to sob uncontrollably. She held herself tightly as if the world was about to fall apart and shook her head slowly. Hunched over slightly, she brought her hands to her mouth and sucked in a shaky breath, warm salty tears still streaming over her eyelids. "No," she repeated over and over again inaudibly through sharp breaths.

"What happened?" Boone said firmly. He took a step forward but wasn't sure how to console the crying girl. He began to reach a hand forward but before he could touch her, she threw herself against him and gripped his shirt like a lifeline. The gesture caught him off guard and he didn't know how to react, but in an attempt to help settle her down, he slowly brought his hands to her shoulders. He didn't hold her to his chest – as she was already clung to it like glue anyway – but he stood there as she sobbed continuously.

Nicole took in the scent of Boone's shirt as she pressed her face into his chest. She could feel a set of hard muscles underneath the shirt and it gave her chills, but she was too unsettled at the moment to enjoy the embrace. All she wanted was something stable to hold; something that would help extinguish her hysteria. But when else would she get a chance like this? _This is what you've always wanted, isn't it? To be held in his arms? _a mocking voice chimed in her head.

She squeezed the last tears out of her eyes as the crying began to stop. A shaky breath rocked itself through her body and she closed her eyes, her hands still clutching Boone's shirt as tightly as she could hold it. It was obvious that Boone would want to know what had happened to her to make her like this, and she wanted to tell him. But she remembered what the man had said. _If you tell your little sniper friend of what happened here, you won't want to know what will happen. _

She couldn't tell him. She was too terrified for the safety of his life and hers. What if she told and he was taken from her? He could be tortured, or worse. And if someone was really watching them, then they might know and they would both suffer the consequences. The immediate decision of not telling him was made in her head and it was final. Still shaken up, she kept silent the rest of the night.

A look of worry was plastered onto her face as she sat on her bed that night staring at the dirty, matted carpet. Boone watched her from his bed on the other side of the room; still curious about what could have set her off like that. Although she refused to speak about it, he respected her decision not to tell him. He couldn't say he had exactly been completely open with her himself.

He wondered what was going through her head while his eyes followed her as she moved from the one position she had been sitting in ever since they walked into the room and leaned over to turn off the lamp next to her bed. Darkness swallowed the room and the two were bathed in black silence. It wasn't long before they were both asleep.


	5. Ambushed

A/N: Sorry this one took so long. I know I said I had it already written before chapter 4 - which is true - but the site was having some problems and wouldn't let me upload at the desired time... So here it is! The fifth installment of this story! I'm still really deciding on how many chapters this is going to be, but it looks like it'll only be six. I don't know yet for sure; it depends how the next chapter goes. Well, enjoy! And thank you for the reads and reviews! Glad you guys like this story so far! (sorry if this chapter gets a little too 'mushy' for you)

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><p>"Aha! I win again!" Nicole exclaimed in exultation. She had won four hands of Caravan in a row now and wasn't done yet.<p>

The merchants she had sat down to play with snorted in vexation and rolled their eyes as Nicole held her hand out, motioning for them to hand over her winnings. They slapped the caps into her palm and she pocketed the cash in her handbag. Smiling from ear to ear, she began to deal the cards again, taking a swig from the whiskey bottle at her side.

Stars sprinkled the night sky as the moon lit their game. The temperature in the desert had significantly dropped and a blanket of cool air hung around them.

It was after a long day of traveling that Nicole and Boone were looking for a place to rest when they ran into the group of traveling merchants. They, too, were tired and wanted to stop for a bit, and that's when Nicole suggested they play a hand of Caravan. The merchants were shy at first but with Nicole's convincing – and the fact that she had some alcohol to pass around – they decided to go ahead and take their chances.

In all the fun she was having, Nicole had forgotten about her experience with the man in black she had had a couple of days before. Still feeling wary of what he had said, and the thought that someone really _was_ watching her, she had kept her mouth shut since. Not a word was spoken about it between the two. Boone still knew something had happened and he was curious about what had riled her up so much, but he took her silence as a sign not to say anything about it.

Nicole set down a card in one of the piles as the thought of the stranger brought itself into her mind. Her heart lurched in anxiety. The man had frightened her more than the Radscorpions had. What he said to her never seemed to sit right in her head. This man knew who she was, what she had done, and he didn't like it one bit. She was almost one hundred percent certain that all of her encounters with death were because of this man and where he came from.

Lost in thought, Nicole hadn't noticed that her turn had come around again. The merchant sitting to her left motioned for her to take her turn and looked at the others and laughed as she snapped out of her thoughts and placed another card down. She resumed her happy behavior and tried to forget about the man and his death wish for her at the moment.

Boone, who was leaning against an old semi-truck full of empty boxes, watched Nicole play with the traveling merchants on the ground. He looked at her face as she laughed and smiled and he was reminded of the time in his life when his wife was still alive. Like a chain reaction, the image of his wife was suddenly thrust into his mind. It was almost as if Carla were sitting there playing a successful game of Caravan like she would play poker on the Strip. Carla knew how to play the game right. She never lost.

The memory of his wife was still on his mind when he saw one of the merchants giving Nicole a little more attention than he was okay with. He was drunk and began flirting with her, but Nicole wasn't receptive of it. She ignored him until he began to get a little rough with her, grabbing her arm and pulling her close to him. Asking him to stop, Nicole yanked back her arm but he wouldn't listen and continued harassing her.

The entire group was standing now and yelling at the man to back off. He grabbed Nicole's shoulders and tried to pull her body close to his. Reflexively, she pushed herself away and struck him across the face, hard. The merchant's pupils widened in astonishment and anger as he brought his hand up to feel the red mark on his cheek. In an instant, he raised a fist and Nicole flinched and shrunk down, raising her arms to protect her face.

Still picturing his wife in her spot, Boone was suddenly infuriated and intervened, punching the merchant across the jaw. He fell backwards to the ground, holding his face in his hands.

"Hey, what the fuck, man?" the merchant yelled at Boone, stumbling to his feet.

The other merchants backed away from Boone and kept quiet. They helped the man up from the ground and hastily gathered their things, readying to leave.

Boone, who was standing still, stared at the ground and realized what he had just done. His mind was so clouded with the vision of his wife that he thought he had saved her. But he his wife wasn't there and would never be. She was gone and Nicole was in her place. Exhaling slowly, he turned his head up to Nicole, who was staring at him with her mouth in the shape of a bottle cap.

She began to say something but her efforts were drowned out by the sound of a nearby explosion. The ground shook beneath them and Nicole staggered to keep her balance. Instinctively she reached for her gun, but another explosion rocked the ground and she fumbled for it before it flew out of her hands.

The merchants started to scatter, but they were drunk, and tripped over their own feet and tumbled to the ground. The brahmin that were carrying the majority of their items panicked and started mooing frantically, running in all different directions.

Dust clouds swirled around them creating a haze that clouded everyone's vision, making the confusion and pandemonium worse.

Reaching for his gun, Boone stumbled slightly as the ground shook once again. He grunted in impatience and searched for the source of the attack. He knew that it was either Raiders or some Great Khans – possibly even the Legion, although it was highly unlikely – but it didn't matter to him.

Even though Nicole had never discussed her theories of the attacks on them, Boone started to become suspicious of the 'random' attacks that had been happening consecutively for the past month. They seemed to be more than just simple coincidences. He began to speculate that they were being planned by someone who didn't like the two very much. And he had a sinking feeling that whoever attacked the group didn't do it because they wanted to kill the merchants.

Nicole started to panic as yet another explosion went off, this time even closer to them, and she tripped and fell to the ground. Her hands caught her fall but the rocky ground scraped the calloused skin on her palms. She sucked air through her clenched teeth and turned herself over. "Boone!" she screamed hysterically. Nicole couldn't see him – or anything – near her. She needed to find her companion before they got separated even further in the frenzy.

The sniper could hear her calling his name in the dust but he couldn't see anything. Searching the cloud for her, he crouched low to the ground. Seeing a dark lump crumpled on the ground in the haze, he didn't hesitate to grab the shape by the collar and drag it backwards.

Nicole's heart leaped out of her throat as she felt something tug at her collar and pull her away. She screamed and started to kick, but silenced herself as she felt someone's face close to her ear and hiss, "Calm down, it's me."

"Boone," she breathed in relief.

He pulled her towards the stationary semi-truck that he was leaning against before and yanked her to her unsteady feet. Grabbing Nicole by the waist, he picked her up and – as gently as he could manage given the stress of the current situation – tossed her into the back of the open truck. He knew their options were limited and doing this could possibly have them both killed, but with all the dust that clouded the road, whoever attacked wouldn't have seen them slip into the back of the truck, increasing their already slim chances of survival.

Another explosion went off and before Nicole could object, Boone pulled himself into the truck and put a hand over her mouth to silence her. "If you want even the slightest possibility of making it out of this alive, I suggest you stay quiet." It wasn't a suggestion, though. She narrowed her eyes, but obeyed.

He motioned for her to follow him to the back of the truck where the surplus amounts of empty boxes would hide them better. Luckily, a larger crate that looked as if it could fit at least one person inside of it was propped against the back wall. Boone carefully positioned it so that it would hide both of them from being seen, but that required him to be pressed close to Nicole's quivering body.

They kept quiet; their foreheads an inch away from each other's. Boone leaned his hands against the wall to steady himself; his stiff arms positioned around her almost in a protective notion. Nicole could feel the sniper's warm breath against her cheeks. She shuddered slightly.

More explosions shook the ground and the truck rocked slightly. Nicole began to breathe shallowly and could feel the water beginning to come to her eyes. Terrified, she tried to steady herself by gripping the nearby boxes but it was no use. A deafening boom thundered just outside of the truck and Boone lost his balance, bringing him closer to Nicole.

In a desperate attempt to stay safe, she clung to his shirt and waited until the explosions stopped, still panting heavily and close to the brink of tears. She held her composure long enough for them to both silently agree that the attack had stopped. Soon, the only sound that filled the truck was their heavy breathing and the sounds of their attackers outside raiding the bodies of the surely dead merchants.

Beads of sweat trickled down Nicole's face, her heart still thumping rapidly. A dry lump formed itself in her throat and she tried to swallow it but it wouldn't budge.

He was right there, his lips just a hair away from touching hers. She wanted to close the tight space between them and claim the kiss that she had been thinking about for so long now, but the reasonable part of her knew better. 'All you have to do is tell him how you feel' was the argument the irrational part of her brain used. If only it was that simple, she scoffed at herself. She wanted to laugh at her own pitiful situation. She couldn't even believe she was thinking of stealing a kiss from him.

Nicole, bringing her gaze up, traced his jaw with her eyes and traveled to his lips. It pained her to be so close to him like this; to be taunted with what she couldn't have. Looking up into his glasses, she could see his eyes were fixed on her. She held his gaze, and after a while, she forgot about what was going on outside the truck; what was going on around them. The dangerous world around her was suddenly dissolved by the same rush of emotions she had gotten in the tent after their Radscorpion attack not that long ago. Her heartbeat drummed in her ears and blossoms of color bloomed on her cheeks.

Being slightly intoxicated herself, Nicole began to slowly lean forward without thinking. She paused when she was no more than a centimeter away from his mouth. Boone's breath gingerly brushed her skin, giving her Goosebumps. She exhaled in short, quiet breaths before leaning in further.

Closing her eyes, she kissed him slowly, the fiery passion she had kept deep inside her finally unleashing itself in an inferno of emotions. Softly and gently, she placed her shaky, nervous hands on his face and caressed his strong jaw line.

Boone watched as the drunk Nicole acted on her impulses, ones he could see she had kept away for a long time. He wasn't completely sure with himself why he hadn't stopped her. One part of him said that it was wrong to just forget about Carla so easily, but another part said maybe it was time to move on. That argument had been going on in his head for a while, and he wasn't sure whose side to pick. He hated himself for beginning to side with the part that wanted to move on; the part that wanted to kiss the drunken girl in front of him back.

A small voice in the back of his head told him to blame it on Nicole; that he should just leave her because it would be the best for him. He dismissed the thought quickly because she wasn't the problem. It was himself. He blamed it on himself for being reminded so much of his wife when he was around Nicole. What made him even angrier with himself was that part of him wanted to be with Nicole; to finally move on. But he could never bring himself to forget Carla, the woman he still loved. He gave his heart to her, and when she died she took it with her.


	6. No Turning Back Now

A/N: Sorry this one took so long (again). Because I've been inactive on here though, I decided to make this chapter a little longer as kind of a little treat for you guys! And nope, this isn't the last chapter haha. It turns out this will be seven chapters after all. But I'm not arguing. :) So here it is, the sixth chapter of this story! More sexual tension, whoo! This one was kind of written in a rush though, so sorry for any errors/things that don't make sense/or overall sloppiness. But thank you all for the reads and reviews, you're all too kind. :)

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><p>The conversation between Nicole and her companion had practically altogether halted. Nicole took most of the blame for it; she was the one who had imprudently kissed a man under problematic circumstances. It was almost as if she had kissed a brick wall – he was completely unresponsive to her advance (she didn't blame him). She was also evidently drunk which, again, was her fault. But she didn't blame the kiss on her being drunk; it was her impulsiveness. Either way, she continued to silently shame herself as she and her companion walked onward in a direction that not even Nicole was sure of.<p>

A sweaty palm brushed the loose hairs out of her eyes and tucked them behind an ear. Nicole sighed partly in exasperation and partly in self-pity – something she found she had been doing a lot lately. She licked her lips noticing they were rather dry.

_Damn desert heat…_

The sun layered blanket upon blanket of boiling air onto them, making sweat begin to seep through the chinks in Nicole's leather armor. Boone had it a little easier than Nicole; he was clad in a white t-shirt and had a hat on, not to mention his dark sunglasses which shielded his eyes from the blinding reflection of the sun on the sand.

Nicole tried to swallow the dry lump in her throat but was unsuccessful, the resistance of the dryness to go away almost painful. Her mouth felt as dry as the air around them; she was parched.

Impulsively her fingers flew to her handbag in search of a bottle of sweet water, and her heart jumped in anticipation as her fingertips grasped thinning, crackling plastic. Without hesitation she brought the bottle to her lips and titled her head backwards, chugging the contents of the bottle with her eyes squeezed shut, only to find she was swallowing dusty air. The only bottle of water she had was empty.

Anger flowed through her veins and she chucked the bottle ahead of them. Embarrassingly to Nicole, tears came to the edge of her eyelids. Exhaustion and dehydration rattled her body and this was the last straw. But it wasn't just because of the water bottle being empty or the intense heat that she wanted to cry. The past few _weeks_ made her want to cry.

She stopped walking and placed her hands on her knees and tucked her head down close to her chest, trying her best to conceal her defeat. It was then when Boone, who was walking a few paces behind her, stopped too, and stared.

After a few silent minutes, Boone spoke in his usual flat tone, "Are you feeling alright?" It was the first thing he had said to her in at least two or three days.

The sound of his voice was such a surprise to her that Nicole didn't answer at first, afraid she had imagined it, but a moment passed and she turned her head to see him waiting expectantly for an answer – one eyebrow raised slightly higher than the other, a frown still plastered to his face. She was overjoyed he was actually speaking to her again, but she didn't think she was ready to return the favor, so she stood straight and sighed, nodding her head.

Boone watched her questionably through his shades, but once she was walking again, he followed suit and resumed the silence between them.

Nicole could've sworn she heard her skin sizzle under the intense Mojave sun, but became more concerned with her sanity when her vision began to haze in and out of focus. A wave of dizziness hit her head like a tsunami and she grabbed her hair so closely and tightly to the scalp that she was afraid a chunk might rip out. She shook her head, trying to shake the fatigue, reassuring herself that they would soon be in a town that had water and the dizziness subsided momentarily. Though despite her efforts to console her body's thirst, with the next step she took, she suddenly blacked out and her knees buckled out from under her.

A burning sensation kissed Nicole on the cheek and she was suddenly aware her body was sprawled on the hot sandy floor that was only underneath her feet a moment ago. Her eyes flashed open and she regretted the notion as the bright sun burned into her pupils. She didn't hesitate to shut them again.

Strong hands grabbed her shoulders and pulled her torso off the ground, holding her in an upright position. Her head, still weak, lolled back and her eyes fluttered open to see the person who had steadied her was Boone. It was obvious that the only person who _could've_ been sitting next to her was the ex-sniper, but Nicole was still surprised to see his face looking down on hers in… disappointment? _Wait, what? _Why was he looking at her as if she had just drop-kicked a baby? Was passing out a crime in the NCR?

She narrowed her eyes. It wasn't the reaction from him she was expecting, and certainly wasn't the one she wanted to be seeing at the moment. "What?" she practically snarled. Frustration flared through her and she shook his hands off of her. She gathered herself and rashly stood too quickly, only to stumble and fall back down a second time. Blush emerged on her cheeks faster than a novice gambler loses his caps at a casino.

"You haven't been drinking water for the past couple of days. You should know better than to _not_ drink anything in a _desert_." Boone scolded her as if she were a child which, normally, Nicole was used to, and given the fact that she hadn't heard him utter more than a word to her in the past few days, the sentences he was speaking to her now should've been making her feel better – but they weren't. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes again.

"I'm sorry," she murmured to him in a melancholy tone, not looking at his eyes which were so fixated on hers. She wasn't referring to the water though, and she knew that Boone wouldn't know she was actually talking about kissing him a couple days before, but she felt relieved to at least apologize to him – even if it was masked by something else.

The ex-sniper didn't reply to her apology though. He stared at her for a moment through his sunglasses and realized how dehydrated she really was. Her lips looked as dry as the desert ground beneath them and dark circles hung under her dilated eyes. Without another word, Boone helped Nicole to her wobbly feet and slung her arm around his neck.

Nicole didn't protest to her companion's gesture, but she still felt slightly uncomfortable. It was hard for her to even make physical contact with him – she was scared she might cross yet another boundary. Having second thoughts, she spoke timidly, and it took her awhile to find a loud enough volume to be heard. "Boone, it's okay. I can walk; my legs aren't broken,"

He looked at her incredulously. Her two consecutive falls proved otherwise, and remembering her rather embarrassing tumbles herself, Nicole felt silly for using that as her argument. Her legs weren't broken, but they weren't exactly working properly either. She sighed in defeat and let him be used as her crutch.

She checked the map on her Pipboy and her stomach lurched when she saw the nearest town was about five miles away. They wouldn't reach it until nightfall. "My map says that there's a town near us… but it's at least five miles away."

"I guess we better start walking then," Boone said, the slightest trace of a smile in his voice. Nicole couldn't tell if he was being enthusiastic or cynical. She assumed it was the latter.

Not much else was said between the two on their walk to the far away town, but Nicole found herself yawning more and more as the sun was almost barely visible on the horizon. She almost slipped out of his grasp as she could feel herself succumbing to sleep. In one quick motion, Boone had swept her legs up and carried her bride and groom style.

Nicole was flustered and began to protest but when he looked down at her with a look that clearly said _'If you're going to complain I don't want to hear it,'_ she shut her mouth.

Nicole's head grew heavy and she soon found it resting on the strong shoulder of her companion. It wasn't long before she fell into a desperately needed sleep to the rhythmic sounds of his boots trudging across the Mojave Wasteland.

The courier awoke to dim shafts of sunlight being filtered through a dirty window that sat a few feet away from the bed she was lying on. Lying on her back and looking up at the rotting wood of the ceiling, Nicole rubbed her pounding forehead. She rolled over to see that two bottles of purified water had been placed on the nightstand next to the bed. Shaky fingers grasped one of the bottles and didn't hesitate to tear the cap off and bring it to her cracked lips.

After the bottles were emptied, Nicole slowly got out of bed and looked around the dark room she sat in. Clearly Boone had made it to the town with the courier and him in one piece, but Boone was nowhere to be seen in the timeworn room.

Curiously, she poked herself out of the door and let her eyes adjust to the light. The town resembled that of a town in old Western times. It had a typical set-up; a saloon, a few vacant buildings, a tent where a caravan was set up, small resident homes and a building which she assumed was the town hall. The town wasn't the largest she had seen, but it wasn't the smallest either.

Before leaving the small room she had slept in that night, she checked to make sure her belongings were in her bag and once she was satisfied none were out of place, she headed in the direction of the saloon in search of Boone.

"Nicole," a voice said from the behind her.

She flinched at the sound of her own name, but was relieved to see it was Boone. He pushed himself off the wall of the shack he was leaning against and walked towards her.

"Just the man I was looking for," Nicole smiled, but quickly let it fade as a woman dressed in torn rags bustled towards the two.

"I heard rumors that you had come into town, but I didn't believe them for myself until I actually saw you!" the woman said breathlessly to Nicole. She was slightly pudgy, and time had prominently left its mark on her face. Her silver-streaked black hair was swept back into a tight ponytail and her clothes were covered in dirt.

"I don't understand-"

"Oh, well don't you know your own reputation in the Mojave? You're known for being pretty helpful against the likes of the…" she looked around as if someone might be listening and lowered her voice, "… the Great Khans."

Nicole froze. How did this woman know that? Did word really get around that easily in the Mojave?

"Ma'am, I-"

The woman, overexcited now, interrupted her again, "I need your help! Please, my son and his friends were messing around outside the town limits and got into a little tiff with some of the Great Khans who were patrolling their camp's borders and they were taken by them! I need you to rescue my son and his friends, please."

The corners of Nicole's mouth curved into a grimace and her brow furrowed. She couldn't afford to mess around with any more factions. _We know what you've done and if you keep doing it, you're dead. We _will_ be watching you. _The man in black's words echoed in her head as clearly as if he had just spoken them to her.

Going to rescue the boys from their captors almost guaranteed that people would need to shot. It was too risky. Even if someone really _wasn't_ watching her every move, it was pretty clear word got around in the Mojave faster than she knew, and if common sense told her anything, she knew that word would spread about her little rescue mission to the man in black somehow or someway.

"I'm sorry, I really don't know if I can help you…" Nicole said, still at an impasse with herself.

Tears came to the woman's eyes as she pleaded, "Please, he's the only thing I have."

Boone was shocked to hear Nicole declining this woman of help. Normally she would be the first to volunteer for this kind of thing. Nicole didn't tolerate factions who bullied others. It was so out of character for her to be turning this woman away, even after her desperate pleas.

Nicole frowned. In her heart she knew she had to help this woman and the children. Was it selfish of her to turn away people in need because she was worried for her own safety? She was a capable woman; she knew how to fire a gun and could talk her way out of most situations, so why was she so scared to accept this woman's cries for help?

"Please…" the woman begged.

"I-" she sighed, "Alright. I'll help you." she said anxiously.

"Oh, thank you so much! My name is Elizabeth Sannders, by the way. My son and his friends were taken off a little ways over there," After awkwardly introducing herself, Elizabeth pointed west, where Nicole could only see small dirt mounds. "Please, get him back safely." The woman gratefully nodded and headed towards a small house.

The two didn't hesitate to start walking towards where the frantic woman had pointed, silence resuming its normal position over them. Boone was confused though, and slightly angry, why Nicole had acted the way she did. Her behavior had changed lately, and he wasn't sure he liked it.

His anger got the best of him. "What's your problem? Why didn't you want to help that woman?" he snapped at her suddenly.

Nicole jumped at the sound of his voice; his blunt questions surprised her. She dreaded answering him, but she knew she had to tell Boone what was really going on. Keeping secrets from each other wasn't going to help anyone.

She took a moment to answer, slowly chewing the words around in her mouth. She sighed and began, "Remember about a week ago when I came back to the motel we were staying at and I was… crying?" It was an awkward thing to say, considering she didn't like to remind herself of her faults. Nicole didn't wait for his answer though, "That night, a man attacked me. He knew who I was, where I'd been, and what I'd done. And he didn't appreciate it very much. He threatened that we would be killed if I kept messing around with their faction."

"What faction is he from? Is it the Legion?" Boone asked, anger still fresh in his tone.

"No, he didn't make that clear. But he made sure I knew that if I kept fucking around in the Mojave we would both die." She said bitterly to him, but resented the harshness of her tone. Getting angry about it wasn't going to fix anything.

He paused and contemplated her words before saying, "Why did you wait until now to tell me?" He couldn't say he was offended he was being kept in the dark, but he didn't understand why she wouldn't tell him upfront about something as serious as this.

"He threatened both of our lives. Craig," she stopped walking and faced him, her face hard with solemnity. She never said his first name, the formality of it almost too stale for her to speak, but this was important to her. "if something bad were to ever happen to you, I don't think I'd ever forgive myself." She stared at his face for a moment before picking up her pace again, this time her steps a little faster.

Hearing his first name come from Nicole, or anyone, was alien to him. He hadn't been called by his first name since his wife was alive. He decided to ignore his mixed feelings about it and said, "So you think that by rescuing these kids we might stir up some trouble with the wrong people?" He practically read her mind.

"Yes. That's why I wanted to turn that woman down. But the look in her eyes… she cares a lot about her son." She said somberly. "I hope you know that by doing this we're pretty much handing our asses over to that guy and what he threatened to do."

A small half smile appeared on Boone's face, which was a pretty rare occurrence for him. "I'm ready for that. Are you?"

The courier turned her head in astonishment to look at the man who was normally 'doom and gloom', was actually showing what looked like a smile. Brows raised and mouth in a flat line, she laughed nervously. "I'd like to say I am, but I might be lying to you if I do." She shook her head at her own qualm.

As they continued walking forward, they began to see the tops of tents and old trailers. Sure enough, men in Great Khan armor walked about while some sat around small, temporary campfires. She crouched low and motioned Boone to follow her behind a large boulder. Cautiously, she poked her head out from behind the rock and searched the camp for the boys being held hostage.

Her eyes flickered from person to person until she saw three boys tied and gagged, lying on the ground. Once she spotted them, she turned to Boone and kept her tone low, "Alright, there they are. There's really no way to go about this discreetly, so we're going to try to pick them off from here. Counting on the fact they're heavily armed and protected, we're going to need to be efficient with our bullets."

Boone nodded in silent agreement. He knew the drill; he was a sniper after all. Long-ranged shooting was his specialty, so killing a lot of Great Khans wasn't going to be a challenge for him. There were only about fifteen of them to begin with. Not a large number really, but caution would still need to be had. Being positioned behind the rocks would be a good enough cover – they were big – but they would need to move eventually.

Nicole looked at him one more time before she pulled out her laser rifle. Trying to swallow the dry lump in her throat wasn't worth the effort, so she said to Boone, "One last thing: if we make it out of this alive, I'll buy you the whole damn bar back in town."

_Ta-thump, ta-thump, ta-thump, _her heartbeat yelled into her ears as she brought the gun's sights to her face. She steadied the body of the rifle on the rock in front of her and aimed down the sights, targeting one of the Khans who was walking by an old trailer.

Hot, pulsating lasers spat themselves out of the gun as she pulled the trigger. After a few bullets hit the Khan, a warm ash pile took the man's place on the ground.

Like a giant ant hill that had just been disturbed, the other Khans in the encampment frenzied and pulled out their guns, quickly pointing them in all different directions looking for the attackers.

A loud crack came from the rifle at Nicole's side, and she watched as a Khan's head exploded and the headless body collapsed to the ground. Guns were aimed at the two hidden in the rocks by the camp and a spray of bullets was released onto them. Nicole pulled herself back further behind the rock and waited for the gunfire to cease.

She ducked and curled over to a different rock and aimed her gun, pulling the trigger and releasing a flurry of lasers once more. The sizzling of human flesh being burned into ash echoed around them. Hot beads of sweat rolled down Nicole's forehead and she pulled herself back again. She looked over to the rock Boone was behind, but he had gone, too. Speculating he had repositioned himself just as she had, she turned her attention back to the current threat.

Reloading her gun and taking a deep breath, she peaked herself out from her cover and fired mercilessly at the Great Khans, screams of agony coming from a few of the men. She could see Boone now; he had snuck around the back and was picking them off from there where they didn't suspect a thing.

Nicole panted in anxiety as only a few more Khans were left standing. She figured it was safe to actually stand from her cover now, but regretted her choice as a bullet dug itself into the shoulder plate of her armor. Gasping in agony, Nicole's hand flew to her the spot and she stumbled to the ground. Hearing her own breath escalate, she instinctively tore off the shoulder pads of her armor and peeled off the leather jacket to reveal her clammy skin.

The bullet had thankfully been stopped by the thick leather padding, but her shoulder throbbed in pain from the impact of the bullet. She breathed in a shaky breath in relief but her heart jumped as she remembered there were still Khans standing. Her jacket and shoulder pads had yet to be put back on, and all that covered her torso was a dirty tank top and the leather corset that was strapped around her stomach.

Grabbing her dropped rifle, Nicole looked around the camp once more from the cover of her rock. She anticipated more gunfire, but in the commotion of her potential bullet wound, she didn't realize that the gunfire had actually ceased. The whole camp was now empty, in fact – except for the dead bodies that littered the ground.

A hand grabbed her shoulder from behind and she screamed, jumping back around and shoving her rifle in the person's face. It was Boone.

"God dammit, stop doing that! I almost blew your brains out!" she hissed at him.

Boone noticed her jacket and shoulder pads had been torn off. "What happened to your clothes?" he asked rather awkwardly.

"I got shot, but the leather stopped the bullet. I took them off to check,"

His eyes searched around her body just to be sure but didn't see any bullet wounds. He creased his eyebrows in disbelief, but asked, "Are you alright?"

Nicole hated that question. She grabbed her jacket and shoulder pads and began to put them back on, "I'm fine, but we need to go rescue those kids and get them home."

By the time Nicole and Boone had untied the frightened and dazed children, explained they were there to rescue them, and brought them back home, the sun had already disappeared from the sky, light flecks of stars sprinkling the pink and purple sky. Elizabeth cried in joy when she saw the kids and paid Nicole with all the little money she could give. She was flattered to receive compensation for rescuing the children, but she didn't refuse. She was a little short on caps, plus she was still liable for her promise that she made to Boone.

After buying a few beers from the town's saloon, Nicole and her companion sat outside by a makeshift campfire and warmed their hands as the temperature around them dropped noticeably.

Despite almost dying and risking her life, Nicole felt delighted. She was happy just to have Boone sitting with her and actually acknowledging her. Still, nothing was said about the kiss, but sitting by a fire and enjoying a drink with him was almost like the kiss had never happened. Nicole wanted to say she wished it had never happened, but she knew she would just be selling herself short. Of course didn't want to pretend it was fake, she just wished it was under more favorable circumstances; she wished Boone had kissed her back. The silly idea of a possible relationship between them was still hopelessly implanted in her head, as much as she hated to admit it.

Worrying about what was going on between them made her upset though, because she really knew that nothing ever _could _come out of it, so she pushed her thoughts aside. It was a wonder though, how Boone had stuck with her all this time. Even after all of the shit they had been through together. Nicole couldn't say she'd be as faithful of a companion if the situation were reversed.

Thinking her thoughts aloud, she bluntly asked, "Why are you still traveling with me? Even after all that's happened?" Nicole was talking about all of their encounters in general, but the one that forced itself into the front of her mind was the kiss.

"I figure whatever mess we're in isn't just because of you. I contributed," he answered, staring at her through his glasses – which he still didn't take off, even at night. Boone also enjoyed the courier's company; it was nice to have someone who wanted to speak to him for a change. The kiss between them could be ignored because Nicole was drunk, but he did consider himself partly responsible for the man coming to threaten her though. Whatever reputation Nicole had earned in the Mojave was given to her with his and his gun's help.

"So we're kind of stuck in this together, aren't we? No way out?" she laughed uncomfortably at the realization of the truth in her own words; there really was no way out. The man in black was going to hear about their escapade and give them a response. It was only a matter of when.

Boone's mouth was in a flat line. He took a swig from his beer and looked at her seriously, "Pretty much."

Nicole looked down in unease. So their deaths were on her hands. Dying with that on her conscience wasn't going to be an easy task.


	7. Freedom

A/N: Whoo! The final chapter! The grand finale! Sorry this one took especially long, guys. (I know, I'm pretty terrible about releasing them consistently.) But thank you all for sticking with it! Your words of encouragement really meant a lot to me. :) So here it is. The final installment of our F!Courier/Boone story. I'm kind of sad but kind of happy at the same same, ya know? But I made this one EXTRA long, just because you guys are super awesome. ;D

Anywho, I know that Boone _probably_ gets a _little_ OOC during this chapter (just a pinch), escpecially towards the end. But hey! It's the last chapter! I couldn't leave you guys with nothing! ;) Well, this is it. It's been a good run guys. Thank you all so much for every read, review and favorite. I really couldn't have done this with out you all. A special thanks to my good friend Katie for making me write this when I didn't have the energy or motivation. Love you girl!

Enjoy!~ (P.S. I have no idea why, but if you read the last part to the song "It's Casual" by Maritime, it fits oddly well. Even though it really has nothing to do with it. Oh well. It's just a really low key song and I like it. :T)

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><p>Nicole unconsciously popped another gumdrop into her mouth and sucked on the sweet candy, letting the droplet melt onto her tongue, slowly savoring the taste in her mouth while a smile lit up her cheeks. The find of the candy was a joyous one for the courier – it had been well over half a year since she had enjoyed something sweet. The enjoyment of the candy was almost ruined by the clicking of her RAD meter informing her that her radiation levels were going up – almost.<p>

The courier and her companion had been traveling the whole day. Their goal was to freelance some work around the Mojave; to help anyone that might've needed it. Business had been slow that day though, so it ended up just being a day of endless walking it seemed. After Nicole swore her feet would fall off if she took another step and the sun had shown its last bit of light to the desert, the duo stopped at an abandoned makeshift shack to rest.

The walls of the old shack were missing; just four rotting posts were all that were left to hold up the rusty tin roof. A thinning blanket with holes scattered about in the fabric was all that had been left behind by the previous inhabitants of the shed. The find – along with the gumdrops – was pretty lucky so Nicole couldn't complain about only one blanket being available.

Exhaustion had hung over both of them and stopping to rest was more relieving than Boone would admit. He knew they both wanted to sleep but he also knew someone needed to keep watch while the other slept.

As if she was reading his mind, Nicole's eyes met Boone's and a silent argument was held between them. It was only after a moment that Nicole spoke the words they were thinking, trying to sound as sincere as possible saying, "You should sleep. I can have the first watch duty." It was hard for her to look convincing as her eyelids could barely stay up by themselves. But she tried her best to look like she could handle it.

"No, you need to rest more than I do," Boone refused, not minding that he sounded harsh and commanding.

Nicole pursed her lips and looked at the sky for a moment before returning his gaze. Slowly, with her eyebrows furrowed, she shook her head. "Boone, I can do it. I'll be fine."

He paused a moment and considered arguing with her more, but she was stubborn and wasn't going to budge until she got her way, and it wasn't worth the effort. Reluctantly, he turned away and began to spread the blanket out to act as a temporary mattress. The blanket was hardly thick enough to protect him from the roughness of the ground but it was better than nothing.

The temperature dropped as the night and its stars hung over the courier and her companion. Even the sand, whose temperature reached almost double of the sun's during the day, began to cool off, a light warmth still radiating from it.

Nicole plopped herself down onto a log outside of the front of the shack. Remnants of an old campfire were sitting in front of her, but with Nicole's little knowledge of how to build fires, it remained dormant and she remained shivering.

Her eyelids beckoned her to succumb to the sweet call of sleep, but she fought her wishes. Thinking of a way she could keep herself awake, she suddenly remembered the box of gumdrops she had found while scavenging around an old house earlier that day. She fervently reached into her pouch and pulled out the decaying cardboard box, not hesitating to rip open the seal and dump a gumdrop into her palm. She placed it into her mouth and chewed the candy eagerly. The candy was a tad stale, and the taste had somewhat been lost over the course of time it had been sitting unopened in the metal container, but she enjoyed it nonetheless.

The sweetness of the gumdrop didn't make her forget about how cold the air around her was getting, though. She shivered as a light breeze touched her arm. Oh how she wished she could make a fire.

She sighed in defeat and, resting her chin on her hand, stared into the Wasteland in front of her. It wasn't an interesting thing to look at, considering it all looked the same to her no matter where she went.

"I swear it's like we're walking in circles here." Nicole had said to Boone once, slightly agitated at the reoccurring settings that never seemed to change.

She laughed quietly to herself, remembering how easily annoyed she got with the desert. It was big and went on and on – almost forever, Nicole thought.

Nicole exhaled slowly and scanned their surroundings, looking for any possible threats. Not expecting anything to actually be out there, she did a double take when she thought she saw a black figure standing about 100 yards away from them. It was too far away for her to actually tell what it was. Squinting, she tried to make out the shape. It looked human, as far as she could tell. It couldn't be the man in black coming carry out his vendetta for her and Boone could it?

_No_, Nicole thought squarely. She wasn't going to scare herself tonight. It wasn't anything. Forcing herself to look away was the only way she could convince herself that the figure was probably just a plant. But curiosity got the best of her and when she looked up again, the figure was gone.

Her heart practically leaped out of her throat and into her hands. She put a sweaty palm to her head, suddenly feeling woozy.

A hand touched Nicole on the shoulder and she practically fell out of her seat. Her body spun itself around before her head could tell it to. It was Boone.

He looked at her questioningly, one eyebrow raised. "Are you okay? You look like you just saw a ghoul."

Instead of answering him, she stared up at his face while hers filled with crimson blush.

Boone pursed his lips and his eyebrows wrinkled. "You looked cold. I thought you might want this," he said awkwardly, gently wrapping the blanket he had been using around her shoulders.

Her face stayed an emotionless stare as her eyes widened. The courier's cheeks burned as if someone had just slapped her. She couldn't believe what had just happened.

Standing in silence for less than a moment, Boone walked back to where he was sleeping and laid down once more, rolling over so his back faced her.

She watched him walk away, a small smile spreading on her face. It was such an out of character thing for him to do. Boone never showed more than two emotions to her, but this showed he actually had compassion. He actually cared about her.

The gesture certainly wasn't aimed romantically at her, but she wasn't complaining. Content washed over her and watched him for a while, watching as his breath became more rhythmic and steady, letting her know he had fallen asleep.

She wanted to curl up next to him and fall asleep in his arms, but that would've been highly inappropriate – and weird, not to mention. It was clear to her that Boone had no intentions of becoming romantically involved with her, so she wallowed in her own self-pity at the loss of the possible relationship. Time healed all wounds, she supposed, so she just had to wait for the day her heart would give up on him. She hoped that day would come soon.

Nicole turned around to resume her watch over the improvised camp, but the last thing she saw that night was a black figure whack her over the head with a police baton and everything went black.

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><p>Nicole moaned in pain as her eyes slowly began to open. She lay on cold, hard concrete, which was less than comforting. Her throbbing head made her want to double over in pain. She placed a palm against her forehead and rubbed it soothingly. Her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting and she looked up at the ceiling. It definitely wasn't the camp she had been at last night…<p>

Suddenly remembering what had happened the night before, she gasped and sat bolt upright, panting heavily. Where was she?

Beginning to panic, she whirled her head around the room she was in, looking for anyone, but it was vacant. Her breath was shaky as she tried to collect herself. But it was no use – she could feel tears welling up in her eyelids. She vaguely remembered the black figure knocking her out and her heartbeat drummed in her ears as the slow realization of what had happened started to come to her. She must've been kidnapped. But by who?

The terrifying thought that the man in black had finally come to kill her planted itself in her head. It was the only liable possibility, she thought as a shaky breath released itself from her quivering lips. Her mind raced as adrenaline coursed through her veins. She needed to escape.

Trying to stand, she realized her foot felt abnormally heavy. She looked down, only to see a large weight placed around her ankle. Getting very far with it on would be close to impossible.

"No, no, no!" she cursed angrily to herself, shaking her shackled foot. Maybe she could call for Boone… Boone! He must've been taken too, she thought. Her heart sank. They could be torturing him by now, for all she knew, or he may even be dead. It was all her fault, she thought, the tears that had been waiting in her eyelids finally releasing themselves down her cheeks in a steady stream.

She sobbed quietly to herself. What had she gotten herself into? Boone – the man she who had been traveling with her through thick and thin, the man who had saved her life more than she could count, the man who was her friend, the man she _loved_ – was in danger and it was all her fault. She was helpless; there was nothing she could do.

Just as she was about to curl herself into a ball and give up all hope, the door to the room she was in slid open. Her heart skipped a beat, thinking it could be Boone, but was mortified when the infamous man in black stepped in, a maniacal smile on his face.

"Well, look who's finally awake!" he said contemptuously. He chuckled to himself as she remained silent, beads of sweat beginning to trickle down Nicole's forehead. "Surprised to see me?" he asked mockingly.

The courier furiously searched her sides for her pack and her gun, but they were missing.

"Looking for these?" The man held up her bag and laser rifle teasingly, before tucking them into his coat.

Nicole was livid, but ignored the question. "Who are you?" she countered angrily. She wished she had her gun with her so she could kill the son of a bitch right then.

The look on his face more was surprised than she expected, but she wasn't sure if it was mock-surprise or not. The man purred sneeringly, and it made Nicole feel sick, "Oh, did I forget my manors?" his tone turned a little more dark, "The name's Levi Greshum, and you, Miss Clarke, have been fucking around with this faction for too long now." He began to walk towards her, eyebrows raised mockingly, "I thought I was being polite by offering you a chance to leave the Great Khans alone before we got _really _angry, but I guess that was just a joke to you, considering you just killed a group of my men a few days ago."

Nicole swallowed. So it was the Great Khans after all. She thought about what she had done to make them angry – which was a lot – and to add to that was the recent rescue mission she had gone a few days before. The answer was so obvious though. How did she not realize it was the Great Khans sooner? She had always speculated whether it was them or not, but never came to a conclusion. If only she had found out sooner, then they wouldn't be in this mess.

"Your _men_ were holding children hostage!" she snarled, glowering at the man.

He frowned slightly, but took a step closer and kicked her side with his heavy boot. She shrieked in pain, curling over onto her side. He growled, "Shut up."

She coughed, grabbing her side, "Where's my friend?"

The man was about to kick her side again when he paused and reconsidered, a devilish smile spreading across his cheeks, his scar curving with the lines of his mouth. He didn't answer the question, just laughed a deep, throaty chuckle.

Anger flared inside Nicole. She wanted to know where Boone was – she _needed _to know. "Where is he you sick bastard?" she screamed at him.

Again, the man ignored her question and planted his boot into her side once more. Nicole gasped in agony, and doubled over. He took pleasure in causing her so much pain, so he brought his boot down once again, this time on her right knee, and Nicole could hear a sickening crunch. She was too tired to scream, so she whimpered helplessly.

Grinning wickedly, Levi said, a thirst for vengeance thick in his tone, "I was put in charge to stop you, and today, I'm finally going to." The man pulled a pistol from his black coat and cocked it, the sound of the gun being loaded making Nicole feel sick to her stomach.

Time seemed to slow down. _This is it, _she thought, _I'm going to die right now._ She always thought she would be ready for this moment; that she had prepared herself mentally since the day she had stepped foot in the Wasteland - because living in the Wasteland is almost like living on borrowed time. But she still hadn't prepared herself to be killed by getting shot in the head, the way that had failed back in Good Springs. It was almost like a déjà vu to her, except this time she would probably die for good.

The man aimed the barrel of the gun at her face. Nicole squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath as she heard a gunshot ring out, but it wasn't from Levi's gun. Her eyes shot open and she looked up at Levi. He had a blank stare on his face and was looking emptily at her. Nicole jumped as his body collapsed to the ground, a pool of blood expanding around his chest. A gunshot wound was in his back.

Nicole looked up to see Boone standing there, a smoking rifle in his hands. She almost passed out.

"Boone!" she exclaimed with joy, tears of happiness streaming down her face. "I thought you were dead," she sobbed harder, still completely in shock.

"I could say the same to you." He sounded surprised himself. He looked at her and could see she was in pain. Her hands were grasping her sides and sweat dribbled down her forehead and cheeks. He closed the door to the room in case anyone was walking by, bent down next to her and spoke, his tone got somewhat softer, "What did he do to you?"

Nicole sucked in air through her clenched teeth as she propped herself up on one elbow. "It's nothing, I'm fine. Look, we need to get out of here before-"

Boone stopped her, "No, it's obviously _something_. It's hard for you just to sit up. What did he do?" he said quietly, but sternly. "I need to know so I don't hurt you when I help you out of here,"

Nicole looked into his eyes, which were still hidden by his glasses, and sighed before looking away. "He just… kicked me a couple times in the side and my knee – which I think might be broken. Also, I'm uh... kind of shackled." She squirmed uncomfortably at the reminded weight on her foot.

Boone looked at the ankle she had mentioned and, sure enough, a large shackle was gripped around her leg. Boone breathed a heavy sigh. Getting out of this place was going to be more difficult than he thought. "Alright," he said, getting up. He walked over to Levi and fished through his pockets, only to pull out a key a moment later. Her companion bent down and unlocked the shackle, while Nicole brought her leg to her chest and rubbed her ankle where the shackle had squeezed it.

He then grabbed her hand and hoisted the courier off the ground. Once he had Nicole standing, he began to elaborate his plan on how they were going to escape. "We're going to need to get out of here fast. There's not going to be a lot of time left once they realize their leader is dead and we're freely walking around-"

His plan was interrupted by Nicole throwing herself into his chest and squeezing him in a tight hug. She grabbed shirt tightly in her hands, as if she might not ever see him again and breathed heavily; trying to hold back more tears. "I'm so glad you're alive," she whispered into his chest. "Thank you for saving me."

Boone didn't say anything, but gently squeezed her back. He wouldn't say it out loud, but he was relieved Nicole was alive, too.

She let him go and wiped the newly formed tears away from her eyes. "Okay, I'm ready to go," she said, regaining her composure.

A knock on the door made Nicole jump. Muffled voices came from outside of it, "Hey, Greshum, you done with that bitch yet? We got a problem – the other one got away." They paused, waiting for a response. "Greshum?" The men outside grew impatient and opened the door. Not a moment after, a bullet was shot through their heads, courtesy of Boone who had his sniper rifle ready and aimed.

"Come on," Boone slung Nicole's arm around his neck – something they were both familiar with – and tried to go as fast as they could out of the room.

"Wait!" Nicole stopped him, "My stuff – it's in his coat!"

Boone propped her up against the door frame and retrieved her bag and rifle, giving them to her as he regained their previous position and carried onward.

Nicole gasped in pain at the weight she was putting on her knee, but pushed forward, knowing they couldn't afford to stop and rest. She prayed that wherever they were wasn't hard to get out of, and that the exit was easy to find.

Boone, noticing her discomfort, shifted her position so she didn't have to put as much weight on her knee and urged her to move slightly faster. She made a nervous sound, and he sighed, saying, "I'm sorry to make you have to do this, but we have to move if we're going to make it out of here alive."

Nicole nodded and pulled her laser rifle out; figuring she could be useful as Boone practically carried her out. She was forced to grip the rifle with her left hand, which wouldn't have been such a problem if she was left handed, but she wasn't, so the shots would be unsteady and probably miss, already adding to the fact she only had one free hand to hold the normally two-handed weapon anyway.

As they rounded a corner, three Great Khan members nearly ran into them. The Great Khans suspected the two weren't supposed to be there so they pulled out their weapons – which luckily weren't guns – and began to attack.

One of the men pulled a tire iron from his side and swung it at Nicole. She blocked it with her gun and, although it hurt her a great deal, put her weight onto her hurt leg and kicked the man in the stomach with the other. He fell to the ground with a thump and a groan.

Boone, while still gripping onto Nicole, pulled out his machete from his side holster and reflected the jab of a knife from one of the other Khans. The Khan swung again, and grazed Boone's arm, leaving behind a sliver of red that began to bleed a steady stream of scarlet.

The ex-sniper grunted and, pulling Nicole with him, came closer to the man, swinging his machete furiously and sliced the man's neck open. A spray of blood squirted onto them as the man fell to the ground, grasping at his neck for a few seconds before he bled out and died.

The final Khan, panicking that his one of his teammates was dead and the other incapacitated, began to run away. Boone motioned for Nicole to give him her rifle. She didn't hesitate to hand it over to him, guessing his plan, and grabbed onto his neck with both of her arms for support while he shot after the Khan and killed him.

Nicole realized she had been holding her breath and let the air in her lungs go. She was about to say something along the lines of "Well that was a close one!" but her chance to be cliché was cut off by Boone giving her rifle back and continuing onward, his pace a little faster. The courier, now hobbling, had a difficult time keeping up.

The corridors of the building they were in were dark and rusty. Now that Nicole had a little time to notice her surroundings, she noticed the unmistakable marks of water stains dripping down from the top of the walls, indicating they were underground. She hoped it wasn't anything like a vault, because that would take forever and a day to get out of.

The duo rounded another corner of the Khan hideout and Nicole was relieved when she saw a ladder leading to the Wasteland. A door that was open in the hallway down to the ladder, distracted her, however, and she pushed herself off of Boone and limped down to it.

"What are you doing?" Boone hissed. "The exit is _right_ there!"

Nicole held up a finger behind her to silence him, and peered into the room. The room was consumed with electrical devices, a large set of generators positioned in the middle. They hummed with electricity, obviously the source of power for the hideout.

Boone walked up behind Nicole to see what she was looking at. "Come on, Nicole. We have to go," he said urgently. A tiny note of panic was laced into his normally serious voice.

"I don't want to leave any of these fuckers alive," she turned to him, her face dead serious. "We're blowing up these generators. That should destroy a pretty good portion of this facility."

"Are you crazy? That would kill us too," Boone glared at the courier, angry at her impertinence.

"Not if we get out first." She pointed to the escape ladder, "The exit is right there," she explained, pulling a few sticks of dynamite from her pouch, "For the time it takes for the fuses on these to go off, we should be able to get out of here."

"But your leg is hurt. There's no way I'm letting you-"

"Boone, please. Just trust me." She looked sternly into his eyes.

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He thought about it for a moment, then said exasperatedly, "Fine."

The courier tried to hide her smile as she readied the dynamite. "We'll only have about 30 seconds to run to that ladder and get out, so be ready."

"Yeah, you and me both," he laughed sadistically.

She ignored the comment, rolling her eyes and saying, "Ready?" Not waiting for an answer, she lit the fuses and threw the dynamite into the center of the generators.

Her heartbeat drummed in her ears, almost overpowering every other noise around her. She could see Boone grabbing her shoulder and yanking her towards the exit. He wasn't helping her run, he was _forcing_ her too. She ignored the pain as she watched him begin to climb up the ladder, she herself following him only a second later. The plan, although nerve-wracking, was going smoothly. That is, until the explosion that was supposed to happen after they exited, went off with a thundering boom.

Everything went silent. The courier froze in her place in panic as time seemed to slow down around her. She could see Boone outside of the manhole yelling down at her to come up, but she couldn't. She was so close to reaching the exit, so close to reaching freedom, but she gave up as she watched her plan fail around her. Her backside burned as she could feel hot flames licking around her as the fire spread.

Another explosion rocked the facility, and all the sounds came rushing back to Nicole. An alarm shrieked and she could hear men screaming in pandemonium. Not a moment later, one more explosion shook the ground. Nicole almost lost her grip, but she could feel a strong hand grabbing her arm and pulling her up.

Boone yanked her out into the Wasteland in the nick of time, as flames swallowed the facility and plumed out of the open manhole, nearly scorching to two in the sand. He grabbed her body and tucked it close to his as he rolled out of the way of the continuous explosions.

The ex-sniper's chest hung close to the courier's. He held his protective position over her for a moment until the explosions died out, then rolled over into the sand next to Nicole and let out a deep breath.

The two lay there in the sand, panting heavily, staring into the sky. Nicole couldn't comprehend what had just happened. She thought it over, step by step in her head: she suggested a stupid plan – again – her plan had failed – again – and Boone saved her life – again. He was always there to save her just in time before she died. He was marking up a debt that she wouldn't be able to pay off.

Nicole turned her head to look at her companion. Sweat trickled down his forehead and arms. His clothing was scorched and dirty and his beret, still miraculously in his possession, had fallen off into the sand revealing his bare head. The sunglasses he always seemed to wear were broken beyond repair, but were still on his face.

The courier rolled over onto her elbow, the movement slightly pained her ankle, but she disregarded it and faced Boone. He eyed her suspiciously, still waiting to reprimand her for freezing up, but kept quiet as she leaned forward and gently took off his glasses. His eyebrow twitched slightly.

"They're broken," Nicole said, not taking her eyes off of his.

"I know," he said back, emotionless.

Nicole looked away for a moment, thinking about what needed to be said, but she decided she couldn't face him, so she lay back down in the sand and unconsciously held his glasses close to her chest and began to fiddle with them.

She took a deep breath, "I'm sorry," she sighed. "I'm sorry about everything."

"I know," Boone said in the same tone.

"I froze up when I shouldn't have and I almost died, but you saved me. You've saved my life more than I can count."

"I know."

"But you wouldn't have to if you hadn't met me. It's all my fault." Nicole frowned.

"I know."

"The Great Khans, the Radscorpions, the random attacks," her voice got softer and more distant, "the kiss…" Her voice filled with self-loathing as she raised the volume of her tone, "Everything. It was all because of me. You know, I still don't get why you haven't realized it too and just left me while you could-"

"Stop," Boone interupted her, suddenly angry at what she was saying, and Nicole looked over to him, a harsh glare plastered on his face. It was much more intense when he didn't have his sunglasses on to block his eyes. She wanted to look away, but she couldn't.

Nicole froze as he then rolled over onto his elbow and faced her instead. "I could've left whenever I wanted to – but I didn't. That speaks for itself, doesn't it? I wouldn't have stuck around if I didn't want to."

The courier blushed at his sudden closeness. She wanted to say something back to him, but she was speechless.

He continued, still looking her directly in the eyes, "You shouldn't put so much blame on yourself for things you can't change or prevent. Things happen for a reason," He became quiet for a moment, suddenly realizing the truth in his own words. He was telling Nicole not to do something he had been doing his whole life.

It was at that moment that he realized he couldn't have prevented his wife's death. It was inevitable. He could've never stopped it or gone back to change it. But if his wife hadn't died, he wouldn't have met the courier below him whom had become his friend – someone he trusted and enjoyed to have around, which was something he hadn't been able to do in a long time.

So, after her stared at the courier for a long time, Boone did something he hadn't been able to do until that moment; he let go of his wife's death and finally accepted it.

"Boone…?" Nicole whispered softly, after the man above her had been staring at her for well over a few minutes. She knew he was probably thinking of his wife; the thing that he would never forget, the constant reminder that he was already taken by another woman.

After he realized he had been staring for a little too long, Boone then did something that surprised both of them.

He closed the space between them and gently kissed the startled courier. Hands caressing her face, he delicately glided his thumbs across her cheeks.

Nicole flinched at first, blush exploding onto her cheeks; she was taken aback at the sudden embrace. But she followed her instincts and, closing her eyes in pure bliss, kissed him back fervently. She accidentally let out a small moan of pleasure, making the blush darker. Her heartbeat drummed in her ears and her heart fluttered with joy. She hadn't realized how badly she had wanted this moment to happen until it finally did. It was hard for her to believe it was real and actually happening.

Boone rolled onto his back once more and pulled the courier's torso onto his chest, holding her there steadily but tenderly, careful not to bump her hurt leg.

She bit his lip slightly before pulling away and staring into his eyes. She smiled, and, despite everything that had happened that day, wanted to live in the moment forever. "I love you," she said bluntly. "I always have," she confessed, finally able to say what she had been keeping locked up for what seemed like an eternity.

"I know," he said, pulling her closer. And he kissed her again.


End file.
